Tax Assassin Read Online Free PDF Page B

house,”
Seth said. “This is what I want.”
    He ducked to miss the coffee mug she threw
at him. The mug shattered against the cabinets behind him. He
scooted out the door when she picked up a kitchen knife. When he
peeked in a half hour later, she was singing along to the cumbia
music blaring from her computer. She cast him a sly smile. He
shrugged and retreated to the party.
    A couple of bottles in, a detective
attempted to “help” Maresol in the kitchen. Before Seth could head
him off at the pass, the detective was scooting out of the kitchen
like his pants were on fire.
    “ She likes to work alone,”
Seth said.
    Seth patted his back and gave him a beer to
calm his nerves. Seth leaned into the kitchen and Maresol gave him
a dark look. Seth smiled and closed the swinging door.
    A man and woman walked toward him.
    “ The bartender said there’s
a hot tub?” a young man from Lincoln said.
    The man gave a quick look to the young
detective from Utah. She bat her blue eyes at him. Seth moved aside
to send them through the kitchen, then thought better of it. He
escorted them down the hall off the dining room and pointed to the
carriage house. A couple women sat down in the chase loungers on
the patio. Seth lit the chimenea so they would be warm and returned
to the party.
    Seth refreshed drinks, laughed at stories,
and in general kept the party light. A detective from Scottsbluff
was holding court with a long improbable story about a girl, a tall
Native American shaman, and a coyote when Dale called Seth to the
door.
    Ava, her sisters, and her mother standing in
the entryway.
    “ Welcome!” Seth
said.
    “ We had nowhere to go,” Ava
said. “The press found us at the hotel and . . . I .
. .”
    Ava bit her lip to keep from crying. If
they’d been alone, he would have held her. Given that her mother
hated him, he caught her hand and turned to her mother.
    “ You are more than welcome
here,” Seth said. “A few detectives came from around the West to
talk about a case. Maresol was just about to serve dinner. Please
come in and make yourselves at home.”
    “ Amelie told us about the
wedding and the money; how you’ve helped us every step of the way,”
Ava’s mother, Vivian Alvin, said. “I’m . . . sorry.
That’s all. After that reporter called our suite to warn us, my
daughter corrected my impression that you had called Westword . The reporter
said he’d promised you that he would take care of us, protect us
from scrutiny, and he has; he truly has. This whole ordeal could
have been a lot worse. And . . . I’ve been wrong,
Seth. I hope you can forgive my pride and . . .”
    “ Of course,” Seth held out
his arms and hugged her. “You’re welcome here for as long as you
need – as long as it takes. We have plenty of space, certainly. And
tonight, we have plenty of food. Please come in and join the
party.”
    “ Come help me, girls,”
Maresol said to Ava and her sisters. Seth raised his eyebrows in
surprise. She shook her head as if he was the impossible one. “We
have these hungry coppers to feed.”
    Relieved to have something concrete to do,
Ava and her sisters were moving into the kitchen to help Maresol,
when a man with a bushy white mustache to match his white cowboy
hat said, “Vivian?”
    “ Jeb?” Ava’s mother’s hand
self consciously touched her hair.
    “ Vivian Bell?” he asked.
“Well, I’ll be goldarned.”
    “ Jeb Elliott. What are you
doing here?” Vivian smiled.
    “ Came to talk to O’Malley
about some trouble we had a few summers ago,” Jeb said. “I’m the
Pennington County Sheriff now. I have my very own office in Rapid
City.”
    “ And Patricia?”
    “ My Patty
passed . . . Gosh, I guess it’s been five years,”
Jeb said.
    “ I’m so sorry,” Vivian
said.
    “ Breast cancer. It was a
relief for both of us at the end,” Jeb said.
    “ My mother suffered like
that, too,” Vivian said. “Horrible.”
    “ It’s hard when good people
are called